During the drilling of a well, and when performing various other operations in a well, it frequently becomes necessary to suspend the drill string or another string or length of pipe in the well by means of an elevator supported from the traveling block of the rig. In certain types of rigs, such as top drive arrangements, the efficiency and convenience of the overall pipe handling operation can be enhanced by employment of elevators which are actuated remotely between a closed condition for gripping and supporting the well pipe and an open condition in which the elevator can be moved laterally onto and off of the pipe. A known type of power operated elevator is actuated between these conditions by compressed air, which operates two cylinders, with the first cylinder opening and closing two body sections of the elevator, and the second cylinder actuating a latch for holding the body sections in closed condition.